hin Hye was racking her brain for a possible explanation as to why Min Ho would be mad at her. She’s never seen him that cold, not even when he was tired or sleepy. Except for looking like he just cried buckets of tears, he seemed perfectly fine when they saw each other earlier that day. She tried to convince herself that his bad mood had nothing to do with her. But even if that were true, she was still a little hurt.
Since the rest of the shoot were classroom scenes of everyone taking the exams, the afternoon continued with them having no interaction. She saw Min Ho look her way at one point but she avoided his gaze immediately and turned to talk to Woo Bin instead.
‘Did you and hyung fight?’ Woo Bin asked, after observing her.
She looked at him, puzzled. ‘Eh? What are you talking about? Why would we fight?’
Woo Bin leaned closer so no one else would hear, ‘he looked like he wasn’t too happy about what happened earlier,’ he said.
Shin Hye furrowed her brows and tried to recall what could have possibly made him mad. She shook her head in frustration, looked at Woo Bin and shrugged.
He opened his mouth to speak, but changed his mind and smirked instead. ‘Ya, Shin Hye, are you blind?’
Shin Hye was feeling impatient and fought the urge to hit him. ‘Can you stop speaking in codes and just tell me? I really don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she replied.
Woo Bin shook his head slowly and let out a sigh. ‘Women. And they say men are the problem?’
‘Aish.’ Shin Hye playfully punched his stomach before walking away. There was no point trying to get it out of Woo Bin when he was clearly going to just mess with her. As long as she didn’t run into Min Ho for now, she was fine.
However there was no avoiding him that night. They were shooting a scene at Myung Soo’s studio where Tan and Eun Sang were supposed to spend the night after getting back together. As Shin Hye waited for Min Ho, she grew more anxious. She couldn’t concentrate on the script.
When he arrived, Shin Hye was sitting on the couch, reading one line for the 10th time. She turned to the door and saw Min Ho walk straight towards her. She panicked slightly and sat up right away. She was about to greet him when he grabbed her hand and gently pulled her up to stand.
‘Come with me,’ he said. Shin Hye wasn’t able to speak since she was still surprised. And very, very confused. Min Ho went to the director, still holding her hand.
‘Kamdongnim, Shin Hye and I have to talk about the scene for a while. We aren’t starting yet, right? Is it okay for us to step out for a bit?’
The director said it was okay and told them to come back in 30 minutes since the crew members were still setting up anyway. Min Ho mumbled his thanks and headed straight to the door. Shin Hye saw his determined expression as they went down the stairs and wondered if he was going to confront her about something she did wrong.
She realized as they were walking that they were headed to Min Ho’s van. He opened the door and motioned for her to get in. After she sat inside, Min Ho came in, sat beside her, and shut the door. He was silent for a while, as if thinking about what to do next. In the end, he closed his eyes and sighed. He leaned back on his seat while Shin Hye looked down and waited for him to talk. She braced herself for whatever he might say.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said softly.
Shin Hye turned to him, surprised. He was looking at her with an apologetic expression. She was baffled. ‘For what?’
‘I don’t know,’ he replied and looked away. Shin Hye didn’t know what was going on, but her heart started beating very fast as she stared at him. She realized it was the first time that the two of them were alone together after a long time. For the past week, they’ve been shooting separately; they haven’t joked in a while, too.
She suddenly missed him, even if he was just sitting there.
‘Oppa, is there something wrong?’ She asked. He looked like he was in pain, and she hated it. When he didn’t respond, she touched his arm. ‘Oppa, are you okay?’
When Min Ho finally looked at her and they locked eyes, she felt an ache from inside. There was something about his expression that made her feel uneasy. It was the same expression he had after their kiss in the storage room.
She willed herself to look away, but she couldn’t. She waited for him to speak. There's something that has been bothering her for some time now, but she unconsciously tried to brush it off, thinking it wasn't possible. But now, she needed to know. She needed to know what that look meant. She needed to know why he acted so cold, and why he’s saying sorry without knowing why. She needed to know why he would go as far as dragging her into his car to talk.
She needed to know if what she’s been denying all this time was true after all.
Min Ho finally broke the gaze and looked down. ‘I’m sorry if I’ve been cold these past few shoots,' he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. 'I, uh… I wanted to really feel like I’ve lost Eun Sang, so I sort of kept my distance. I hope you don’t think that I was mad at you or anything. I’m sorry…’ he trailed off.
As soon as she heard his words, her heart inexplicably sank. She wasn’t exactly sure why, but she had an impulse to hide in a corner and just cry. Shin Hye, you’re so stupid… get your act together.
‘It’s okay, oppa,’ she replied, a little too brightly. ‘I didn’t think anything of it,’ she shook her head. ‘I understand. We have to do what’s best for the drama,’ she continued, stuttering a bit.
Min Ho looked at her again, and this time, she couldn’t just sit there anymore.
‘Oppa, let’s go back inside, huh?’ She said hurriedly, rising from her seat. She opened the door quickly, even if Min Ho was still sitting there. ‘I’ll go ahead,’ she told him before closing the door, leaving Min Ho inside.
Shin Hye felt the tears coming, so she forced herself to laugh. ‘Shin Hye, babo. Stop being so embarrassing,’ she told herself. She fanned her eyes and breathed heavily as she went up the stairs back to the set. When she arrived, she had her makeup touched up and sat on the stool by the table where they were shooting the scene.
Min Ho came back soon after, still looking a little glum. She smiled at him as if nothing happened. ‘Oppa, we have to be happy now. We’re back together, remember? No need to be sad anymore,’ she told him as he sat on the stool next to hers.
He smiled at her faintly and looked at his script.
‘Ya, Kim Tan, you still look detached. Why? You don’t want me anymore?’ She asked teasingly.
This time, Min Ho laughed.
Shin Hye didn’t know until that moment that his laughter can break her heart.